15 Rip Off Movies You Never Knew About

Originality happens to be one of the rarest entities in Hollywood as bundles of ideas have apparently been unethically borrowed from variable sources. Whether it is an anime or another movie, prepare to be shocked as you find out that even the most successful movies ever made are actually blatant examples of plagiarism. Lets have a look at 15 rip off movies you never knew about:

15. Game Over <-> Home Alone

Child actor Macaulay Culkin became a household name when he starred as Kevin McCallister in the 1990 Christmas comedy movieHome Alone. Defending his house from two notorious burglars by using home appliances as booby traps seems an imaginative idea but it was already used a year earlier.

French horror-thriller film3615 codePère Noël (internationally known as Game Over) showcases a child that defends his house and diabetic grandfather by similar manner from an unhinged man sporting a Santa Clause costume. Director Rene Manzor threatened legal action against Home Alone and claimed that his movie was “remade”.

14. Secret of the Incas <-> Raiders of the Lost Ark

Paramount Pictures struck gold in 1981 with the release of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Nominated for nine Academy Awards and winning five, the movie is one of the finest action adventure flicks of all time but bears a striking resemblance to one of the previously released movies of Paramount Pictures, Secret of the Incas.

Starring Charlton Heston as Harry Steele, the character is a strong influence for Indiana Jones as far as clothing and habits are concerned. In fact costume designer Deborah Nadoolman revealed that the crew watched Secret of the Incas together multiple times and felt that Jones is a “kinder and gentler” Steele.

13. Battle Royale <-> The Hunger Games

Corrections are in order as The Hunger Games does not only bear resemblance to Battle Royale but also The 10th Victim. Truth be told, the movie has been immensely criticized for borrowing a handful of elements from endless sources such as Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

Dozens of movies that are allegedly a source of inspiration include Blade Runner, Death Race 2000, The Truman Show and Metropolis. The Guardian once accurately described The Hunger Games as

Writer Harlan Ellison threatened to sue the studios for infringement and was given an undisclosed amount of money and a proper acknowledgment at the end of the film credits.

11. Kimba the White Lion <-> The Lion King

Undoubtedly one of the best animated movies produced by Walt Disney, The Lion King certainly made an impact but came with a heap of controversy. The uncanny resemblance to Japanese anime show Kimba the White Lion was clearly visible and even Simba’s voice actor Matthew Broderick was under the impression that he was actually working on an American version of the show.

Co-directors of The Lion KingRoger Allers and Rob Minkoff commented on the allegations of infringement and claimed that they were entirely unaware of Kimba the White Lion.

10. Point Break <-> The Fast and the Furious

Hailed as one of the most commercially successful franchises in modern Hollywood, the fate of The Fast and the Furious could have been entirely different if action crime film Point Break was not released ten years earlier.

Point Break tells the story of an undercover cop who forms an unlikely friendhsip with a criminal over their love for surfing. Replace surfing with car racing and you instantly get The Fast and the Furious.

9. Perfect Blue <-> Black Swan

The entire plot of Black Swan was a cinematic art but oddly enough, some of its pivotal elements were straight-out copied from Japanese psychological thriller animated movie Perfect Blue including confusing reality with fiction, the mirror scene and fighting own doppelganger.

Director Darren Aronofsky addressed the issue but denied that Black Swan had been used as a motivation as he commented:

“There are similarities between the films, but it wasn’t influenced by it.”

8. City on Fire <-> Reservoir Dogs

Possibly the greatest film director of the modern era, it is no secret that Quentin Tarantino has built a career from ripping off “every single movie ever made” and “mixing them together”. As much as he openly admits it, the entire list can be filled with his movies alone but for the sake of the article, let’s just stick with his debut movie Reservoir Dogs.

Taking several components from the 1987 Hong King crime film City on Fire, Reservoir Dogs is scarred with the same plot. Turnabout is fair play as ten years after its release, Reservoir Dogs became a victim of plagiarism as Bollywood released its unauthorized remake Kaante starring megastar Amitabh Bachchan.